Health Check: Nursing runs in the family

(TurnTo10.com) Renee Cacchiotti and Amy Stroup are nurses on the same floor at Rhode Island Hospital, but they’re in different units.

Besides being nurses, they have something else in common. Both have mothers who are also nurses at the hospital, and both come from a line of nurses.

Cacchiotti’s mom, Cathy Duquette is a nurse, and so was her mom.

It’s the same for the mother-daughter duo of Nancy and Danielle Bushy.

Nancy’s mother was a nurse here too.

“She graduated from Rhode Island Hospital School of Nursing in 1946, and she was a nurse here and I was secretary when she was a nurse here,” said Nancy Bushy.

Bushy’s daughter, Danielle, followed that same path, starting as a secretary before becoming a nurse two years ago. Her mom was her inspiration.

“I saw how she was really independent and a very strong person and I kind of wanted that for me too,” Danielle Bushy said.

Ellen LeBeuf, a director of nursing at the hospital, has been here for 43 years.

“I have never regretted one minute. It’s a wonderful, wonderful profession,” LeBeuf said.

“As I went through college I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was just kind of drawn to it. Just having my family, all the nurses around, how they’ve always spoke about their jobs and they loved it. I was just drawn to it,” Stroup said.

“I’m just very proud to have her working under the same roof, same organization,” Duquette said.

Most of these mother-daughter nurses admit they don’t always see each other.

“I work nights and she works during the day. So, when I’m leaving in the morning, she’s coming in. So, sometimes we’ll kind of pass each other and say a quick hello. So, it’s a nice treat,” Cacchiotti said.

Some work in different buildings, like the Bushys. Whenever they get the chance, they will meet up even if it’s just for a quick cup of coffee in the cafeteria.

“I’ve seen what nurses have done and become here, and it’s great. So, to have my daughter work in the same organization, it’s fantastic,” LeBeuf said.